McCain said it would be a mistake to pursue a brand of “most trusted” because it would provide little benefit to Canada’s agri-food industry.

“The one word I would describe this (plan) … is dangerous,” he said. “(It’s) something we should not attempt.”

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McCain’s comments caught many off guard at the downtown Ottawa event, hosted by the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute and Canada 2020, two think-tanks in the nation’s capital.

McCain said Canada already has a strong reputation for safe food. Any effort to brand the entire agri-food sector as most trusted would be a blunder because the global food market is complicated and segmented. Some consumers might pay a premium for Canadian products that come out of a rigorous, sustainable and credible food system, but many may not.

“We can only afford in our industry to add value where individual customers or markets … will pay for that value,” McCain said.

“Canada isn’t large enough, or influential enough, or competitive enough, as an industry … to try and establish and paint one brush across the whole industry, saying we’re going to compete on a different plane.”

He said Morrison Lamothe already makes safe food. Additional time and resources to enhance food safety wouldn’t be helpful.

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“It’s not enough to sell food safety. We have to sell on competitive basis, and trust means different things in different markets.”

McCain emphasized that individual companies in the agri-food sector are free to pursue a particular segment of consumers, such as people who value natural, or organic or enhanced animal welfare.

But an entire country shouldn’t aim for a particular brand like “most trusted.”

“That cost, in our view, will never be universally valued because of a marketplace that isn’t homogenous,” he said. “We believe that innovation and adding value is the domain of individual participants.”